New 9mm Shield plagued with issues

[billyblooshoes]

I guess I'll try and keep this short and sweet. This is my first post here. I've done some research and found that there are some other threads related to this it seems, but i figured I'd start my own anyway to discuss as it seems there really aren't any definitive answers in the other threads I found.

I have a 9mm Shield. Between two separate range sessions, I've put around 400-500 roounds through it. The first range session I started having issues with FTF/failures to feed...some double feeds, but mainly the rounds affected were just not making it into the chamber properly. There were also some FTE/failures to eject. I initially chalked it up to it being a new gun and even though I would hope and think that it didn't need it, maybe my new Shield needed a break in.

Second range session...to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Let's just say I stopped counting the failures. Failures to feed, failures to extract, double feeds....some of the failures to eject were so bad that they could not be cleared by conventional means. The spent casings were stuck on the extractor and I had to force them down and out of the bind they were in with the extractor claw. It was bad.

Like I said before, I know people are having issues with failures to extract, but I have not been able to find any accounts of issues that are this bad. If I had to guess, I would think I'm experiencing close to a 20% failure rate or more. I'm assuming I'm left with no option but to send it back to S&W. Oh, and just to clarify, yes, the gun was stripped and cleaned when it was new. I am an experienced shooter with hours of professional training, so no, it is not operator error or limp wristing. Something is seriously wrong with this gun. I really really really want to love it and for it to work properly. Thankfully, the role it was intended for in my case was that of a back-up gun, not primary. Hopefully this can be rectified by S&W...

 

[TheMystro]

Let S&W deal with it. It certainly is not normal or even typical of the Shield.

 

[agksimon]

I can't see the ejector, but if it's not bent and in the proper place, I'd like to see a close-up of the extractor. It's one of the two. If it's the extractor, it's something that I've fixed myself with mine.

 

[nocents]

what themystro said.....that's what your warranty is for....I bought a new shield9 new last year and it functioned flawless for the time I had it....but I sold it to get one of those old S&W "boat anchors".....the shield is a great weapon...yours will be too

 

[71velle]

What ammo were you using?

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Are you positive the recoil spring in installed correctly?? What ammo are you using? Welcome to the Forum...sorry you are have issues.

 

[MichiganScott]

Sounds like the problems are either ammo related or lack of lube.

Send it back to Smith for a check-up. Personally if I'd planned on carrying that particular pistol, I'd sell it when it was returned because it sounds like you have lost faith in the gun. You need to be able to trust your carrying pistol absolutely.

 

[JSR III]

Anything man made is subject to mechanical failure. Could be something simple or serious. As others have stated, S&W has excellent customer service. Call them and arrange to send the gun back for a look see.

Who hasn't bought a new car and had problems with it. Let us know how you make out.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Who hasn't bought a new car and had problems with it.

My 2007 Toyota Tundra with 102,000 miles and my 2013 VW Sportwagen have never had to go back to the dealer to have anything fixed.

 

[Comrad]

I have a question, maybe out of ignorance but, how many rounds can you reasonable fire in a range session before heat becomes an issue? Is it possible to cause problems rapidly firing hundreds of rounds an hour?

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Don't think you could shoot enough rounds to make the gun fail by heat. Glocks seem to run OK...check out the video:

Russian Gun show - YouTube

 

[TheMystro]

Your VW is doomed now....You shouldnt have said anything.

My 2007 Toyota Tundra with 102,000 miles and my 2013 VW Sportwagen have never had to go back to the dealer to have anything fixed.

 

[billyblooshoes]

thanks for the replies and insights so far guys. as far as ammo use, i ran wolf steel, aguila brass, and pmc brass, along with a handful of gold dots. had issues across the board so i dont think its an ammo issue, and if the shield is for some reason ammo sensitive i'll be pretty disappointed. in my opinion it should be able to run whatever i feed it.

regarding lube, the gun was stripped down out of the box, cleaned, and then treated with fireclean so it was good in that regard. i did not clean it between the first and second range sessions, but once again, i dont feel i should have to. the gun should still run a little dirty and once again, if its that sensitive that it wont run properly with a little dirt in it, i'll be pretty disappointed.

i'm waiting to hear back from customer service now. i plan on leaving the gun dirty when i send it back to them. i figure they can at least test fire it with the 500 rounds worth of fouling in it and take that off the list of possible causes.

 

[Bkreutz]

Does it do this with both magazines, or only one? My first thought when seeing the pictures was a defective magazine (the lips not holding the second round in until the slide stripped it).

 

[boykinlp]

Is this a recent production gun?

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Have you taken it apart and checked the recoil spring for proper installation since the failures occurred? Looks to me like it isn't cycling properly. You might also want to go back and edit your photos and remove your Serial number from public view.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I'm not saying it's his fault in any way but I do want to bring up the point that this is why I always say that the theory of immediately breaking a gun down and cleaning it and lubing it before even shooting it is a BAD idea. That gun came ready to shoot from the factory. I know some here will argue that point with me and that's fine but the bottom line is that we will never know how the gun ran "out of the box."

My money's on something is not quite back together right.

 

[billyblooshoes]

Does it do this with both magazines, or only one? My first thought when seeing the pictures was a defective magazine (the lips not holding the second round in until the slide stripped it).

had the issues with both mags.

 

[billyblooshoes]

I'm not saying it's his fault in any way but I do want to bring up the point that this is why I always say that the theory of immediately breaking a gun down and cleaning it and lubing it before even shooting it is a BAD idea. That gun came ready to shoot from the factory. I know some here will argue that point with me and that's fine but the bottom line is that we will never know how the gun ran "out of the box."

My money's on something is not quite back together right.

to clarify, the gun was not completely detail stripped. im talking simple field strip. im with you on not really needing to field strip a gun to clean it when its new, but this time i did it because i had just got some fireclean and really wanted to treat the gun with it since i knew id be shooting it a lot.

 

[billyblooshoes]

Have you taken it apart and checked the recoil spring for proper installation since the failures occurred? Looks to me like it isn't cycling properly. You might also want to go back and edit your photos and remove your Serial number from public view.

i will check again, but i dont think i would have overlooked this. not really worried too much about the serial number thing either.